Horror on Twitter!!

I was on Twitter last week, and was interested to see that #HowToSurviveAHorrorMovie was trending! This instantly reminded me of my coursework for media, and decided to go through the tweets people were sending. Obviously some of the tweets were jokes, but most of them made sense. Here are a few which I thought were true, but also funny :)

After a while, this trend became the first Trending Topic on Twitter and lasted for quite a long time! 

Choosing the font for 'Damnation'

When it came to creating our trailer, we wanted to brainstorm ideas beforehand for the title, and how it would look like. We had a few ideas in mind, such as:

- having a black outline - stands out more
- text should a blood red
- having some sort of symbol implemented in order to relate back to the storyline. E.g - having a cross for the 'T'

We first started of with this font, placing it on a black background, with no added effect. However, it seemed much too plain, and it also looked amateur, as it doesn't exactly look too scary. This was a helpful beginning as we then able to expand from this.

With the help of Photoshop, we were able to add shadows and glow to the text and all around it. We changed the font colour to white, as we thought  having a red glow would be effective. Also, this is a great contrast between the meaning of the three colours used, as black and red can denote a dark side, whereas white is more of a pure and innocent colour, which then relates back to the storyline. As I originally wanted to have a cross for the 'T,' we inserted it upside down to represent the anti-christ. Nevertheless, it didn't seem to look right, which may have been to the type of cross we used, but we decided not to use this idea as we were sure we could think of something as effective.

Elaborating from the previous image, we then came up with this title. We decided to keep to the white text, but lessening the red glow and shadow behind, to add emphasis to the black background. Also, taking out the cross for the 'T' and having it as normal. This was a nice look as it was effective, but I still wasn't too sure about the font as it seemed to plain. The size of the lettering looked a bit too thin as well, which is why I wanted to have something a bit broader.

We then completely changed the style of the font, and decided to go for a simple look, as this would then be much more bolder, making it effective. Changing the text colour back to red, we decided to take the red glow and shadow away too, but having a white borderline. In relation to having a religious symbol present in the title, we added stained glass windows to the 'A's, which was suggested by my team member. However, when I first saw this, I didn't realise what they were straight away, as it didn't look clear, which is we decided not to include this.

Lastly, this is our final piece of title that we included in our trailer, magazine cover and poster. I wasn't happy with the shade of red that we previously used, which is why I decided to change it to a darker shade. Overall, I am happy with the last piece of work, as I think it is rather effective, regardless of the fact that it is simple. It turned out that the ideas we originally planned to include didn't work out too well, as we couldn't have a black borderline because the background was black, but I think that white does look better. We couldn't use a religious symbol as it didn't look right, but it still looks fine without it. The only idea we stuck to was having a red colour text. I think that all three colours work really well together, and it highlights the trailer too.

Analysis of Film Posters and Magazine Covers

Horror Movie Trailers

Media Deep Learning Day

We recentlty had a deep learning day, which was for media. This day was partly dedicated to the practical side of our coursework. However, we did start on our storyboard which connotes the scenes which will be included within the trailer. We then had the opportunity to create a short parody video based on a horror movie, or to start filming scenes from our trailer. After creating the storyboard, we scanned the pictures onto the computer.

Short Horror Film

Wet then went out to do some practice filming for our actual trailer, as this gave us an understanding of how to use the equipment.

Storyboard

We recently created our storyboard for the trailer which illustrates the different scenes that will be present, while also explaining the camera angle, the type of edit, whether there will be sound present, and if so, would it be diegetic or non diegetic, alongside a brief description of the scene. My group and I split the tasks amongst ourselves to make it easier and also in order to get it done quicker. This was definitely a hard task to do as it involved a lot of detail and thought, but it was very useful as it made the trailer seem more realistic, and it also bought us together as a group.

Storyboards

Shooting Schedule

In order to be organised when it comes to filming for our trailer, my group and I discussed the timings of the week in which we are all free. This was particularly difficult as our lessons during school clashed, as well as some of the timings outside of school. However, we solved the problems which then allowed us to create our final shooting schedule, were at least two members from the team will be present.

I found this rather helpful, as by forming this schedule before actually doing any filming, we know what props we will need beforehand and the locations of where we will be shooting for each scene. Majority of the shooting will be done after school as most of the shots are during the evening.